| Opening Day. It’s the day when all baseball
fans can be optimistic. Not only does your favorite team still have a shot at reaching the
World Series, but warmer weather is just around the corner as spring turns into summer. But
Opening Day isn’t conjuring up good vibes at the headquarters of one NFL team. You
see, the start of the baseball season may mean the end of a certain someone’s NFL
career. And that, sports fans, could have devastating consequences on this team’s
salary cap.
The team in question here is the Washington Redskins. The player? You guessed it, Deion
Sanders.
Sanders, as you might have heard, is flirting with baseball. Actually, he’s doing
more than flirting. He’s having an all-out affair with the sport that may be his
first love.
When Sanders expressed an interest in baseball again and re-signed with the Reds, few
folks gave it a second thought. Most football people — and many baseball people,
for that matter — figured it was nothing more than a way for Sanders to give himself
a little offseason vacation. It was viewed as sort of a fantasy camp for Sanders, and
maybe a way for the Reds to get a little added spring-training publicity.
Who made up the minority that didn’t hold this opinion of Sanders’ baseball
comeback? The Reds’ front office and Sanders himself. Those parties are taking this
thing very seriously, which means that Redskins head coach Marty Schottenheimer ought to
be taking this thing very seriously too.
You see, Sanders reportedly had a very solid spring training, and he is expected back
in the big leagues very soon. While the Reds open up their regular season today in
Cincinnati, Sanders will still be down in Florida, working on his game. This is not
because he isn’t deemed ready to play in the bigs; it’s because his contract
doesn’t allow him to be promoted until May. Based on what he’s displayed on the
diamond this spring, you can count on Sanders showing up in the show on the first day his
contract allows it.
So, what does all of this mean for the Redskins, who held the first minicamp of the
Schottenheimer era this past weekend?
It means that Sanders may not be a part of the team anymore. Schottenheimer has done
his best not to show any animosity toward the star cornerback. He says that he supports
Sanders’ baseball comeback. But the coach also says he expects to see Sanders on the
first day of training camp. He’s not going to go for any of this part-time football
stuff. Reporting to the gridiron once the baseball season ends isn’t going to fly
with this Redskins regime.
If Sanders is serious about sticking in baseball, his football days could be over. That
would make last summer’s signing a colossal mistake. When owner Daniel Snyder inked
Sanders to a seven-year deal worth $56 million, all sides knew that Sanders would never
play out the length of the deal. But the Redskins expected they would get more than one
season in exchange for the $8 million signing bonus they handed over.
Let’s assume Sanders is indeed done with football. The Redskins could cut him
after June 1 to defer some of the salary-cap hit until next season. If that is done, then
he will count $1.143 million against the cap in 2001. But the real problem hits home in
2002, when Sanders would count $5.714 million vs. the cap. All of that is dead money vs.
the salary cap.
That amount of dead money could pay the salaries of several quality NFL starters. But
if it’s automatically eaten up, the roster certainly will suffer.
So, with all of this uncertainty surrounding the future of Deion Sanders and the salary
cap, you will forgive the Redskins for not celebrating Opening Day. |
